


Jitters

by helsinkibaby



Category: Press Gang
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-08-10
Updated: 2004-08-10
Packaged: 2020-07-28 05:37:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20058901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Lynda's nervous hic makes a reappearance.





	Jitters

“Go away Kenny!”

Some things, Kenny thought, never changed, though he had sense enough not to say that out loud, especially considering the noise that followed his name.

_“Hic!”_

“Lynda,” he began, but that was as far as she allowed him to get.

“Everything’s under control, I’m fine.” A pause, and he heard another hiccup through the heavy wood of the door. “I’ll be out in a – _hic! _– minute.”

Shaking his head, he put his hand on the heavy brass doorknob, already starting to turn it as he asked, “Look, can I come in?”

“No!” It was more of a yelp than a shout and he dropped his hand quickly. “You can’t come in here; it’s bad luck!”

“I only want to talk to you, Lynda,” he told her. “See if I can help.” Because as far as he, and everyone else was concerned, Lynda had beaten her social phobia a long time ago, her “nervous hic” a thing of the past. Why it had picked today to resurface, why she’d barricaded herself in the back room of the church, was more than a little worrying.

“I’m fine Kenny, go back outsi- _hic!_ Damn!”

Kenny took a deep breath. “Look, your mum and Sarah sent me back here… they thought if we talked… it might help. Besides, I was feeling a bit self-conscious out there…”

_“Hic!”_

He ignored the noise, soldiered on. “…And then Colin started a book on how late you were going to be… I threw in a fiver, so I figure I can just sit out here until it’s the time I picked…”

“You can’t sit!” He straightened up obediently, having been just about to sit down, back to the door. “You’ll crease your suit,” she continued, and he looked down at the morning suit that his mother had pressed lovingly that morning, a suit that he, quite frankly, hated.

“You mean it’s possible for it to look worse?” he muttered, surprised to hear a snort from Lynda. She must, he realised, be standing right on the other side.

“You?” she huffed. “You’re not the one in a frilly white dress, wearing enough cosmetics to create a new hole in the ozone layer, with a net curtain hanging from their hair…”

“Lucky I’m not,” he countered. “Or else we’d have a whole new reason to delay the ceremony.” There was a muffled giggle from the other side of the door, and he smiled. “That’s better.”

He heard her sigh. “I’m sorry.”

Trailing a hand along the dark wood, he shook his head. “It’s okay,” he told her, but when had those words ever stopped Lynda?

“I just got here… and saw all the cars… saw everyone inside… waiting… and the thought of them all looking at me…_hic!_”

“Don’t look at any of them,” was Kenny’s suggestion. “Just look for me… you won’t be able to miss me… I’ll be the penguin at the end of the aisle… with the dopiest grin on his face, because he can’t believe the girl of his dreams is going to marry him…”

Which was perfectly true. Because after all the years of unrequited – and, to be quite honest, unrealised – love, all the years of being Lynda’s best friend and conscience, not to mention the front row seat for her Burton-and-Taylor-esque relationship with Spike Thomson, Kenny still was having a bit of trouble believing that this was really going to happen.

“The girl of your dreams?” she asked, speaking so quietly that Kenny could barely hear her. “You’re sure you don’t mean your nightmares?”

“Never.” Kenny didn’t even have to think about it. “You’re the one for me, Lynda… you always have been.”

There was what seemed like a very long silence, then, to Kenny’s great consternation, he heard the doorknob turning. Jumping away, he turned his back to the door, closing his eyes for good measure, not opening them even when he heard Lynda’s voice at his shoulder. “Kenny…” she said quietly.

“I can’t look at you,” he said stubbornly. “It’s bad luck.”

He heard her come around in front of him, heard the amusement in her voice when she laid her hands on his chest. “I think we’ve had all our bad luck,” she said softly, fingers playing with the carnation in his buttonhole. “Look at me.”

It was a plea, not an order, and when he opened his eyes, he couldn’t believe the vision before him. “Wow,” he said simply.

The dress was v-necked and sleeveless, swirls of white embroidered on the bodice, the full skirt falling all the way to the ground, swishing as she moved. Her curly hair was pulled back and up in some kind of elaborate ponytail, cheeks flushed pink under his admiring gaze. One shoulder rose and fell in a shrug as she looked down. “Yeah, well…” she muttered, but he wasn’t going to let her away with that.

“You,” he said, laying a hand on her cheek, tilting her head up so that she was looking into his eyes, “Are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

The beaming smile that spread across her face only served to confirm his opinion. “You’re not so bad yourself,” she told him, reaching up to brush her lips across his. “Now, get out.”

The crisp order had him blinking in shock. “What-?”

“Kenny, we’ve got all our friends and family out there,” she told him, not a hint of a hic in sight. “We don’t want to keep them waiting, do we?” Her eyes were dancing impishly, her lips twitching, and he found himself laughing.

“I love you,” he told her, squeezing her hand as he began to walk away.

“I love you too,” he heard her say. Then, louder, “Kenny?” He turned, frowning when he saw shadows fall across her face. “I’m sorry… for keeping you waiting.”

He shrugged, still smiling. “It’s ok,” he told her, and he might even have been talking about that day when he added on, “You’re worth the wait.”


End file.
